Problems with seeing objects and/or pedestrians located within the blind spots out of rearview mirrors are well known to drivers. The knowledge of what is located in the xe2x80x9cblind spotxe2x80x9d of a driver must be learned by movement of the head in combination with looking in the side mounted and windshield mounted rearview mirrors. In order to utilize the same mirror for normal viewing as for blind spot viewing, the mirror must be adjustable. However, conventional adjustable mirrors are four-way mirrors on dual-orthogonality axes, i.e. mirrors that can focus right and left, or up and down. Regrettably, these mirrors are designed to be merely adjustable to accommodate various sizes of drivers. All drivers must be accommodated, and it is well known that men and women are generally of different sizes, so the mirrors need to be adjusted for different drivers.
However, these adjustment mechanisms do nothing to alleviate the problem of viewing the xe2x80x9cblind spotxe2x80x9d. There have been a few proposed solutions for automatically momentarily focusing a rearview mirror to visually cover the entire field of sight, including the xe2x80x9cblind spotxe2x80x9d. In order to effect such an adjustment, some solenoid adjustment systems have been constructed to temporarily adjust a second mirror or the regularly used side mounted rear view mirror to view the blind spot. But they were not absolutely effective to automatically adjust for blind spot sight because they caused vibration of the reflecting surface. The driver would have to look through a xe2x80x9cbouncyxe2x80x9d mirror, which would not give a perfect reflection of the blind spot.
Such prior art attempts to overcome the problem with viewing xe2x80x9cblind spotsxe2x80x9d have included, among many others, U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,561 issued to Hong on Feb. 23, 1993 which discloses an automatic oscillating vehicle side mirror utilizing a solenoid with an operating lever to actuate the movement of the mirror for the elimination of a blind spot; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,497 issued to Lynas on Oct. 27, 1992 which also discloses a rearview mirror for covering the blind spot, although it is also actuated by a solenoid. Both of these prior art patents disclose actuator systems that inherently introduce an element of vibration to the mirror which is undesirable. Other attempts have tried the use of separate mirrors, i.e. U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,792, issued Oct. 1, 1991 to McDonough, which discloses a solenoid actuator means for positioning a second mirror to cover the xe2x80x9cblind spotxe2x80x9d prior to or during lane changes, turns, or backing maneuvers.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an actuation mechanism for the side-mounted rearview mirror which could momentarily and reliably shift the focus of the rearview mirror into the blind spot without vibration, followed by returning to the normal rearwardly focused position for continuous driving.
It would also be desirable to provide such an actuation mechanism that utilized as few parts as possible, in order to render the manufacturing process to be as simple as possible, with few parts to fail.
In accordance with the present invention, there is disclosed an electrically driven motorized rearview mirror actuator for a mirror designed to alleviate xe2x80x9cblind spotsxe2x80x9d. The present actuator provides substantially vibration-free movement between the normal driving position and that of a blind spot viewing position for the rearview mirror. The present motorized mirror actuator is made with a relatively few number of parts which will resist a lifetime of movements without wearing out. The present actuator is also a separate actuation means from the standard mirror adjuster which would adjust the mirror from left to right or up and down to accommodate differently sized passengers. Rather, the present actuator is its own actuation means used to rotate the rearview mirror about an axis of rotation which is at a predetermined angle from the normal driving position.
In the preferred embodiment, the return of the mirror to its normal position is accomplished without the use of additional motors. This is a great advantage over the prior art. Rather, by the utilization of a well placed spring mechanism, the mirror is returned automatically after being moved into position by the electrically driven motor actuator. Moreover, a delay timer or any other feasible means for timing the action may be used to assure that the mirror is automatically returned to its normal driving position after the driver has had a sufficient amount of time to view the blind spot. The return should generally be accomplished within a time period of between about one second and about three seconds.
By utilizing an adjustable positioning mechanism, a conventional singular rear view mirror plate attached to the motorized mirror actuator in accordance with the present invention will move the mirror plate within the rear view mirror housing temporarily between the normal rear view mirror position as desired by the operator of the vehicle, and a preselected xe2x80x9cblind spotxe2x80x9d position to increase safety of operation. As disclosed in prior art patents, the actuation may be activated by the turn signal, or any other feasible means. If my motorized mirror actuator is in electrical communication with the turn signal, then the problem of viewing the xe2x80x9cblind spotxe2x80x9d when making a lane change or turn is automatically covered, as the driver will activate the xe2x80x9cblind spotxe2x80x9d mirror position as soon as he turns on his turn signal. If the driver wants to turn to the left, then the left side would be activated, while the right mirror would be activated during a turn to the right. Needless to say, there are many more ways to effectively activate my actuator, including buttons, levers or knobs located within easy reach of the driver. The trigger mechanism can be anything that works well. The activation means may include a switch on the steering column.
Having briefly summarized the invention, it will now be described in greater detail hereinbelow, in the context of the appendant drawings. It is to be noted that the scope of the invention shall only be limited by the appended claims. It is also to be noted that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of the present invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally fine and effective embodiments.